Monday, 28 November 2011

SummaryThe National Toxics Network (NTN) has been investigating the potential of radioactive contamination arising from the Lynas’ rare earth concentrate plant at Mt Weld, near Laverton Western Australian. NTN is concerned a regulatory loophole is being utilised to improperly transport radioactive materials through WA suburbs to be shipped to Malaysia.

According to environmental and mining authorities in Western Australia, the waste slurry generated from the chemical processing and flotation of the rare earth ores at Lynas Corporation’s Mt Weld concentrator plant is radioactive. The radiation is primarily due to the thorium and uranium content of the ore.

The tailings from the ore concentrator have also been deemed radioactive by the state Department of Mining and Petroleum.

NTN is extremely concerned that the concentrate will soon be transported through residential suburbs as if it were not a radioactive substance, with no identifying signage, despite being subject to a radiation management plan that has not been released for public consultation. The public and workers have a right to know about the radiation risks to which they will be exposed.For a number of year Lynas has mined and stored stockpiles of rare earth ores (REO) at the Mt Weld mine site and graded these stockpiles according to purity and other factors. The stockpiled ore is then shipped 1.5 km to the concentrator plant where impurities are removed through chemical and flotation processes. Two major streams of material then leave the concentrator plant.

Firstly, the product is a lanthanum oxide concentrate (which also contains a range of other rare earths) and a waste stream which is a slurry of water and process liquors contaminated with 15.8% solids including the uranium and thorium with a pH of 10.5-10.8. Secondly, the waste is then piped to large tailings ponds where the liquid fraction can evaporate over time. This has the effect of concentrating the solid fraction of radioactive materials within the tailings pond residues. This concentrating factor has not been assessed by authorities and could result in radioactivity levels many times higher than claimed in the proponent’s reports especially towards the end of the mine life. As the ponds dry out airborne dust containing radioactive particles will become a major management problem for decades to come.

Government documents have become available which indicate that Lynas Corporation failed to construct its tailings ponds according to the engineering conditions laid down in the environmental operating licence issued by the WA Department of Environment and Conservation.

As a result Lynas has been ordered by the DEC to rebuild a small section of their tailings pond and line it with High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) as an interim measure. If Lynas had received government approvals and used the initial tailings ponds they constructed, they would have leaked at an estimated 186, 000 litres per day or over 67 million litres per annum of radioactive leachate.

The DEC Environmental Assessment Report for the concentrator plant makes it clear that Lynas Corporation failed to meet the regulatory controls and conditions put in place to prevent environmental contamination from processing rare earth ore tailings production. It also raises considerable doubt about their ability to meet waste disposal regulations and environmental protection requirements in other jurisdictions such as Malaysia.

Radioactive tailings leakage – a licence to pollute.The ‘tailings’ or waste material from the processing of rare earth ores at Mt Weld into a concentrate, contains 500ppm ThO2 (Thorium Oxide) and 30ppm U3O8 (Uranium Oxide). The calculated radiation specific activity from this combination is 1.80 Bq/g for the Thorium and 0.32 Bq/g for the Uranium which totals 2.12 Bq/g. This is more than twice the threshold radioactivity level set by the Department of Mining and Petroleum for classification as radioactive tailings (‘radioactive’ classification is in excess of 1.0 Bq/g). This regulatory criterion occurs under the Western Australian Mines Safety and Inspection Regulations 1995.

The Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) is a 17.5 hectare paddock style impoundment constructed in two stages. The first stage was intended to take the first two years of waste followed by stage two which would see the banks raised to accommodate the future production waste.

A review of the integrity of the tailings ponds by Lynas engineering consultants Knight Piesold in 20091 found alarming evidence that the radioactive waste material would have been able to leak at the rate of 186,000 litres per day if the ponds had started to accept tailings. WA authorities ordered Lynas to fix their tailings facility after finding that the construction was grossly inadequate and a small tailings pond has now been lined with HDPE plastics to act as an interim waste storage pond. The remainder of the large tailing pond will now have to be re-engineered with HDPE over time.

However, even the new lined tailings facility is estimated to leak at the rate of up to 14,000 litres per day according to the Department of Environment and Conservation.2

Far from their claims of being a clean, green industry Lynas Corporation are prepared to allow the leakage of over 5 million litres of radioactive tailings every year at the site of their concentrator plant. The concentrator plant has been operating since May 2011 and 2.5 million litres of contaminated tailings have already leaked from the facility if the Department of Environment and Conservations predictions are correct. No monitoring data from the site has been released to the public as yet.

Contradictory regulations on TransportLynas confirm in their Radiation Management Plan that because their “ore, concentrate and tailings contain elevated concentrators of natural thorium and uranium personal annual radiation exposures at the Mt Weld operation were predicted to be above the annual public dose limit of 1mSv per year”.3

In spite of the clear admission by Lynas Corporation that their ore, tailings and concentrate are sufficiently radioactive to exceed the annual public dose limit, they failed to take measures to sufficiently engineer their tailings pond resulting in potentially massive leakage of the radioactive waste.

At this stage there are no clear indications as to how the concentrated tailings will be managed at the end of the ponds life or the mine’s decommissioning. Given that the ponds will be built in a hot, arid zone with little rainfall, the ponds can be expected to dry out and generate dust with radioactive particles and other heavy metals.

Notably, Malaysia also classifies waste or radioactive materials as ‘radioactive’ when the specific radioactivity level exceeds 1.0 Bq/g. This is the reason why Lynas Corporations ‘product’ or rare earth concentrate will be regulated as radioactive material for transportation purposes, from the moment it lands in Malaysia.

Lynas Corporation have relied on an exemption loophole in the Western Australian transport regulations to allow their concentrate to be shipped from Mt Weld to Fremantle Port (nearly 1000km) without it being classified as radioactive material. The loophole allows the concentrate to be transported without Dangerous Goods classification or ‘radioactive material’ classification due to an exemption clause in the Radiation Safety (Transport of Radioactive Substances) Regulations, WA, 2002 which allows up to 10 Bq/g of specific radioactivity if the product is not destined for production to extract the radioactive elements (uranium and thorium) or if the material is not subject to chemical processing.

This is despite the fact that the Thorium levels are much higher in the concentrate (approx 1700 ppm) giving it a specific radioactivity level between 3.5 and 8 Bq/g4. So even though the concentrate exceeds the level at which tailings are classified radioactive by up to eight times, and exceeds the Malaysian transport regulations by up to eight times it will not be classified ‘radioactive’ for transport purposes in Western Australia thereby disguising its true nature to the public

There will be no signage or placarding on the trucks carrying the concentrate denoting its radioactive nature. This is critical for emergency workers to make rapid decisions in the event of an accident or spill of the concentrate on public roads or at the port.

Lynas argue that the Radiation Safety (Transport of Radioactive Substances) Regulations, WA, 2002 and the ARPANSA Safe Transport of Radioactive Material Code of Practice (STRM, 2007) applies only to materials that are not chemically processed or intended for the extraction of the radionuclides. However, the processing of concentrate at Mt Weld involves the use of at least 5 chemicals which contradicts their claim that they are subject to an exemption from the transport regulations.

Further it can be argued that the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) in Malaysia will process the material to extract the radioactive elements uranium and thorium as well as other impurities. The impurities will then be dumped as part of the LAMP waste stream in Malaysia. As such the exemption from radioactive transport requirements in WA appears to be based on proponent assurances rather than sound science.Contact : Lee Bell BA MA (ESD)

Controversial rare earth manufacturer Lynas Corporation has been granted a licence by the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) that will allow the company to store radioactive slurry in ponds
that will leak over 5 million litres of radioactive waste per annum, the National Toxics Network said today.

“This ‘permit to pollute’ comes on the back of the discovery by the DEC that the original tailings ponds built by Lynas would leak an astonishing 186,000 litres per day or, 67 million litres of contaminated waste per annum” said Lee Bell, NTN spokesperson.

The ponds are situated at the Lynas Concentrator plant at Mt Weld near Laverton.

“Rare earth ores from the Mt Weld mine undergo chemical processing at the plant with radioactive waste slurry from the process being dumped in ponds. The DEC refused to allow Lynas to dump their waste until
they had constructed a smaller lined pond specifically for waste disposal” Mr Bell said.

“Lynas have admitted in their Radiation Management Plan that their ore, concentrate and waste are sufficiently radioactive to be above the annual public dose limit of 1mSv per year. Despite this the DEC
will let them use ponds that will leak up to 5 million litres per year of radioactive tailings waste” said Mr Bell.

“The Department of Mines and Petroleum have declared that the Lynas waste slurry must be managed as radioactive tailings due to its thorium and uranium content yet the concentrate, which has much higher
radioactivity will not be transported as radioactive material - despite earlier approvals requiring this higher level of regulation.

Malaysia will also require the Lynas concentrate to be transported as a radioactive material as soon as it lands” Mr Bell said.

“This is in stark contrast to public statements by Lynas that their product is so low in radiation that it does not need to be transported as a radioactive material when it is shipped through WA and Fremantle
Ports. The public are being hoodwinked and government agencies are supporting this deception,” said Mr Bell

NTN calls on the Western Australian government to stop the leakage at Mt Weld and ban any shipments of the Lynas concentrate until an independent assessment of the radiation risks of Lynas concentrate is
made public.

Save Malaysia Stop Lynas Committee (SMSL) has been informed by the Australian watch group National Toxic Network that Lynas’s Western Australia’s (WA) Mt Weld tailing ponds would leak an astonishing 186,000 litres of radioactive waste per day or, 67 million litres of contaminated waste per annum.

The WA Department of Environment and Conservation DEC has refused to allow Lynas to dump their waste until they had constructed a lined pond specifically for waste disposal.

“It is indeed a shocking discovery that Lynas would dare to do this knowing full well it would not be acceptable in Australia.” Says Mr Tan Bun Teet, Chairman of SMSL.

However, even the new lined tailings facility is estimated to leak at the rate of up to 14,000 litres per day according to the Department of Environment and Conservation.

Government’s Duty of Care to Exercise Prudence
SMSL calls on the Government to suspend the construction of the Lynas Advanced Material Plant (LAMP) and institute a full-scale independent engineering audit.

Since expose in the New York Times in late June of the LAMP’s serious design flaws and shonky construction, there has not been any official investigation or independent audit to ensure that Lynas has properly rectify the problems to ensure plant safety and adequate environmental management measures are in place.

Lynas’ persistent recalcitrant behaviour is of great concern and a big risk to public health and safety. If the LAMP is allowed to operate in this condition, serious contamination problems will ensue risking the entire economy and well beings of the local people and Malaysia as a whole.
It is time the government exercise prudence in the interest of public safety, the sustainability of our important environmental resources and for the sake of our long-term economic health. We call on the Government to use its power to fully and thoroughly investigate the various issues which have surfaced to date.

To date, the public has not been consulted on the project and its long-term waste management plan is unclear although these are two of the key recommendations specified by the IAEA agreed to both by the Malaysian Government and Lynas as requirements to comply with before the pre-operating licence is issued.

MITI 30th November visit to the LAMP
SMSL had earlier requested a joint visit with independent experts and MITI to inspect the Lynas plant in Gebeng in December. Unfortunately, MITI insisted on a visit for the 30th November which will coincide with Lynas’ Annual General Meeting in Sydney.

SMSL is concern that Lynas will be using the plant visit for its badly needed public relation exercise to allay growing fear and concerns amongst its shareholders. Lynas’ survival is dependent on its shareholders’ confidence. It is clear that Lynas has largely invested in shareholder and investors relation than community relation and plant safety, least of all its waste management strategy.

“In the public interest and to restore public confidence in the Government to effectively manage the LAMP, we urge the Government to stop all construction activities until a full-scale independent investigation and audit are carried out and rectified.”

“This is the only way the public will have faith in the Government to act responsibly and with the appropriate sense of duty of care. It will go a long way to restore Malaysia’s image as a matured emerging economy.” Concludes Mr Tan

Wednesday, 23 November 2011

How long is the Government prepared to tolerate Lynas Corporation’s recalcitrant behaviour?

Earlier this month, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed slammed Lynas Corporation for “jumping the gun” by repeatedly pre-empting the government approval through giving unrealistically early start dates for the controversial Lynas Advance Materials Plant (LAMP) near Kuantan.

Datuk Mustapa’s statement was clear. He said “They have no business to pre-empt the (Atomic Energy Licensing) board. No business at all to issue these kind of statements and we have reprimanded them,”

Not only that Lynas has not shown any remorse of restraint, it has once again spit on our Government’s face through its latest media stunt. In its attempt to boost its investors’ and shareholders’ confidence leading up to its Nov 30th AGM in Sydney, Lynas has YET again pre-empted the issuing of the pre-operating licence and projected an early production date for its LAMP.

“This is an affront the Malaysian Government.” Said Dr Phua, Vice Chairman for SMSL.

“Clearly, we have just witnessed how blatantly arrogant Lynas is. It has no respect for our government and the people of Malaysia. How can we risk our future with this company?” added Dr Phua.

SMSL has the following critical questions for the government:

“How can our government tolerate this kind of behaviour and disrespect?”
“If Lynas disregards our Government’s warning now, how can we trust that it will not be even more defiant and arrogant once the operating licence is issued?
“Is MB Adnan Yaakob trying to race the Pahang economy to be in par with the Greek financial crisis by agreeing to use state funds to purchase houses from residents worrying about the rare earth project?”

“By continuing to tolerate Lynas’ defiance, Malaysian is showing up our own weakness and compromising our sovereign rights to enforce law and order. The people of Malaysia have genuine concerns about the Lynas project. The government needs to act with prudence and exercise its duty of care for its citizens by going hard on Lynas, not to tolerate insults from a foreign company.”

“The government should show Lynas we mean business and that we have the means to determine if the plant is up to scratch to operate. The government must halt the construction of the LAMP whilst facilitate an independent team of engineers and experts with the relevant skills and experience to audit the LAMP. Only that will help us restore some confidence in our government.”

Last week, Lynas pressed the Government to issue a 2-year pre-operating licence despite not having presented a safe and effective long-term management plan acceptable to all. To date, the public has not been consulted even though this is one of the conditions Lynas need to fulfil to get its licence.

So far, Lynas has not come up with a satisfactory long-term waste management plan as recommended by the IAEA and agreed to by the Malaysian Government. Issuing a pre-operating licence now will mean the Government has turned its back on the IAEA, rendering the already weak safeguard ineffective in protecting the nation’s own future and safety.

Lynas by asking for a pre-operating licence when all it has built is 3 open ponds to store the radioactive hazardous waste is an insult to our intelligence and safety standard.

In Australia, Lynas would not have been allowed to build the plant without an approved waste management plan.

In Australia, the LAMP as it is would have been closed down and any approval issued previously withdrawn by the government for breaches of state and federal laws!

Is our life in Malaysian worth less than the Australians for Lynas to behave so badly and so arrogantly in Malaysia?

Shonky Construction of the LAMP

Further, the public has no way of knowing if the plant is safe since the revelation in the late June New York Times article that rushed deadline has resulted in shonky construction and serious structural defects.

“Given the corrosive substances involved in rare earth processing, any construction defect will lead to serious leaks and contamination problems.”

“The Government must carry out a full independent engineering audit of the plant before even attempting to consider the licensing issue.”

“We simply cannot trust Lynas to do the right thing.” Concluded Dr Phua.

The revelation and expose by Lynas’ own insiders to the New York Times are serious problems which would affect the reliability and safety of the LAMP.

Only a full independent engineering audit will be able to uncover all of the problems. We fear that Lynas would continue to flaunt basic engineering procedure and lower the safety standard in its race to produce rare earth oxides to capture its market share.

“What we have on our backyard is the world’s largest rare earth plant with a massive waste problem to tackle and pollution risks. This is not to be overlooked by either the authorities or the people.

Two of our country’s most esteemed professional bodies – the MMA and the Bar Council – have both publicly issued warnings to the Government on this project. They do not do this lightly as they have a duty of care for the people and for our country, just like us ordinary citizens who also have our duty of care for our country and our family and ourselves.”

Supporters of the Stop Lynas campaign will be staging a peaceful action at the Lynas AGM in Sydney on 30th November from 10.00am to noon.

We hope to use this platform to explain to shareholders of Lynas why we are so strongly opposed to this rare earth plant in our backyard.

We will urge shareholders of Lynas Corporation to re-assess their investment risks and divest from Lynas.

Thursday, 10 November 2011

Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) to introduce a new interpretation of the piñata to mark residents’ strong opposition of the Lynas rare earth project.

On Sunday 13th November 2011 at Taman Gelora, a family day will be held with an early morning line dancing follow by the “Whack a piñata” action and the signing of a pledge to do what it takes to stop the Lynas project.

Why piñata ?

Traditionally, a piñata is a papier-mâché that is filled with goodies and then broken as part of a ceremony in Mexico and many Latin-American countries. On Sunday, 26 colourful and stunningly handmade piñatas will be hung up at various locations around the lake for this ritual. Participants will take turn to whack the piñata to symbolise their anger and frustration towards the Lynas rare earth project. Samples of thes piñatas will be shown at the press conference today.

“This Sunday is a family day for mums and dad, grandparents and kids to take part in healthy activities in the beautiful surrounding of Taman Gelora” says Mr Tan Bun Teet,Chairman of SMSL.

“The clean air and beautiful surrounding of Taman Gelora is a reminder of what a lovelyplace Kuantan is. We cannot afford to simply sit back to let a foreign company ruined our future and the good life we have work so hard for.”

It has been nearly eight months since residents learnt about the construction of the world’s largest rare earth plant at the Gebeng industrial site in March of this year from the New York Times. SMSL was formed soon after in response to the fear and the public outcry to provide a platform for ordinary citizens – mums and dads and local businesses as well as professionals - to campaign to protect our beloved homeland from being contaminated by dangerous toxic waste of the Lynas plant.

Since then, SMSL together with other groups have concertedly staged regular protest actions and engaged with the media, politicians and authorities both in Malaysia and in Australia. Tens of thousands of people have taken part to show their opposition to the project to date and the movement is growing in Pahang and around the country as well as in Peoples’ power has so far managed to force the Government to take a closer look into the hazards and risks of the plant and the issuing of the operating licence has been delayed as a result. Until people turned up in force and in numbers, the authorities were complacent.

Earlier this year, the director-general of the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) Raja Datuk Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan had merely repeated Lynas’ public relation spin that the waste from the Lynas rare earth plant is so safe that it can be scattered everywhere. The AELB had once said the now closed Mitsubishi Asian Rare Earth plant in Bukit Merah, Perak was safe too, even with abnormally high number of fatal leukemia cases, birth defects and other health problems in the nearby towns.

Likewise the Menteri Besar of Pahang had said that the radiation from the rare earth ore was far weaker than that of mobile phones, completely ignoring the long term problem, health hazards and the risk pose by millions of tonnes of waste that would be left by the rare earth plant in all states – solid, liquid and gas. Each year, the amount of solid waste alone is enough to fill 126 standard Olympic size swimming pools! This waste will remain hazardous from the radioactive thorium and uranium as well as the range of by-products resulting from the use of highly concentrated acids and other corrosive substances in the processing of rare earth concentrate.

One wonders if the MB is aware that millions of tonnes of waste water will be discharged into our waters potentially polluting our riverine, mangrove and marine ecosystems contaminating our seafood and lovely coastline and the South China Sea. On top of that, the plant will be emitting huge amount of waste gas into our atmosphere, posing additional risks of acid rain with radioactive particles. The Malaysian regulators and authorities seemed to be ignorant of the scientific fact that radioactive particles from the various waste streams will enter the natural environment. Low radioactive particles tended to accumulate within organism in the ecosystem and they will find their way into the food chain and hence to the general population. This concern is real and urgent because thorium has a half-life of 14 billion years which means the radioactive particles will be hazardous and dangerous for as long as the human lifespan on earth!

At a time when coastal and marine tourism are beginning to gain some grounds in Pahang,the Lynas rare earth project has essentially halted any hope of further development in ecotourism and in the high-end tourism sector which are friendly to the natural environment whilst helping to boost small to medium scale local businesses and services vital to the livelihoods and income generation for the majority of the people.

Yet we find the Chairman of the Pahang Tourism, Arts, Heritage and Family Development Committee, Datuk Shafik Fauzan quoted in Sinar Harian in October 24th alleging that SMSL should focus on picking rubbish and not picking on the Lynas rare earth project! One wonders if Datuk Shafik truly understands the implication and impact of the Lynas project on tourism and family for him to make such a statement. He should be on SMSL’s side to fight for the integrity of the tourism industry. After all who will want to spend money to come to holiday near the world’s largest rare earth plant?

In consideration of the range of hazards and risks, the best solution to keep Kuantan and the surrounding towns and our environment as well as food clean and safe is to get rid of the plant. After all, it was constructed without our knowledge let alone our free prior informed Why should we the citizens shoulder the burden of proof and the risks when the entire project benefits primarily a foreign corporation? The granting of the 12-year tax break is most puzzling and worrying when the country needs all the revenue we can collect to progress. Why should the Lynas Corporation enjoy a pioneer status when we already had a
costly and nasty experience with the now shut-down Asian Rare Earth plant?

The recent revelation by the AELB that Lynas Corporation has failed to meet any of the conditions set out by the Government is a step in the right direction. It is a stark contrast to Raja Datuk Aziz’s earlier careless dismissal of public concern. Similarly, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister for International Trade and Industry (MITI) has very recently slammed Lynas Corporation for pre-empting the government by repeatedly project unrealistic early start dates in the media for its Gebeng rare earth plant.

Clearly, Lynas Corporation has proven itself to be a recalcitrant company that have consistently misled its shareholders and potential customers on the progress of its plant against advice by the Malaysian authorities and against the reality on the ground. Why then is our Government allowing the plant construction to be continued?

How can we trust such a corporation to operate a plant that will produce so much hazardous waste when it is already not facing up with its home truth? How can we trust our government to be vigilant when it has continued to tolerate Lynas’ risky modus operandi?

How can Lynas take us seriously when our Government has done nothing to show Lynas Corporation that we mean business by putting an immediate stop to its construction when it failed to meet government’s requirement?!

It is on these bases that SMSL has to continue to do our duty to keep the public informed and to keep creating democratic space for ordinary citizens, mums and dads to take part in legitimate activities to show their concerns.

SMSL fear this Sunday’s action may well be given the same treatment as the 109 Himpunan Hijau gathering with the government deploying large force of tax payers funded security forces to stop ordinary citizens and their family from taking part in a community event with a legitimate message to keep dangerous project out of our country.

Already we have been informed of empty tents being set up at Taman Gelora to take away public space and to create excuse for the authority to stop the 1311 event. We also heard that the police force has recalled all its personnel from their leave in preparation for the Sunday event.

Why are our hard earned taxes being used to safeguard a foreign corporation’s interest when in the end our taxes will be needed to clean up and manage any accident and dangerous pollution from the plant?

How can the state apparatus funded by our own taxes be used to safeguard Lynas’ interests in a supposedly democratic nation such as Malaysia?

SMSL cannot afford to do nothing. Doing nothing now will lead to the demise of the lovely city of Kuantan leaving a toxic legacy for the future generations and a costly burden for all Malaysians. If Lynas is allowed to proceed despite our strong opposition and show of strength, we will be sending a message to the dirty polluting industry the world over that Malaysia is a haven for toxic projects with lax environmental law enforcement. This is a dangerous message to be sending out when industrialised nations are forced to
drastically cut their greenhouse gas emissions and shelved their nuclear plans. They will not be any shortage of dirty polluting projects looking for a home to park tax-free under lax environmental conditions. We simply cannot allow Malaysia to become their haven!

“All of our active members and supporters love Kuantan dearly. They have toiled and work hard to build their homes here and they want a clean and safe future for their family and their children and grandchildren.”

“They will and have pledged to do everything possible to stop the Lynas rare earth project.” Concludes Mr Tan.

Thousands of local people have already signed a pledge to do whatever it takes to stop the Lynas project. Many thousands more will join with time.

SMSL will continue act as a voice of the people to tell the Government and Lynas Corporation that the rare earth plant has no place in Malaysia.